Then on 25th April, this year, Team Valdarno took a complete squaddra to Crema in north east Italy for the most important race of the season thus far, la Gran Premio di Liberazione.

We had our sprinter, and Italian Champion, Monia Baccaille in great form and it was a fast, flat 120km course, raced on a 10km circuit. Expectations were very high for victory.

Of course, after a standard team meeting (why say in 10 words what you could say in 1000), I gleaned from summaries, translations and reiterations, that we should try for 2 of us to be in a break at any one time, and that really, Monia had never beaten the infamous and speedy Bronzini, from the team RDZ Gauss. Terrific! All I had to do was stay at the front, chase attacks, get in a break, and then, if was all together with 2 laps to go, keep the pace high and lead Monia out to victory!

Thankfully, Guderzo is  worthy leader and demonstrated all day why she is the current world road champion. She was aggressive, relentless, encouraging and continually in the front 30-40 of the tight-knit peloton of 120.

At the half way point, we had both gotten into a break of 7, in a tricky part of the course where the road narrowed onto paths - St Kilda Road compared to the narrows in Belgium! We had a 25s lead after 3km and the break was working well. I overtook her as she rolled off the front to recover from her monster turn, and as she looked across as at me, she gave me a big smile, "Brava, Breedie! Bravissima!"

With no race radios and dozens of Italian teams wanting a sprint finish, our break got reeled back after 12km, and then it was a matter of keeping the pace high for the remaining few laps. My next challenge was to get a bidon from Vittorio at 50km/h. Riders always seem to attack in feed zones, it's like some mean spirited given, and if it's hot and your bike has only one bidon cage, you hope that Vittorio isn't smoking and has his glasses on. I managed 1 from 2.

With one lap to go, Guderzo put in a blasting attack at the front, to keep Baccaille in a safe position and force the peloton to string out. I managed to get up to the front with 8km to go and me and some poor other grunt from another team were doing our thing at the front for as long as we could.

Having never really adequately participated in a leadout, or been the sole rider with that responsibility, it truly is a crazy few minutes of your life. This is what I was thinking:

"Good. Good. Keep it above 45 into the head wind! Move right, cover the Fasso rider! Good, good, Strong. Good, 5km to go. That's it, 4km to go, Move left, the Gauss rider is moving up. That's it, strong strong, use the cross winds, stay above 47, nice work, 3km to go, COME ON ONLY 2KM TO GO! KEEP GOING! JESUS WHERE DID ALL THESE GIRLS COME FROM? I THOUGHT I WAS IN FRONT OF THEM! THERE'S 2,3 5, 10... SHIT WHY AM I GOING BACKWARDS AT 45? WOAH! THERE GOES MONIA! STAY UPRIGHT! DON'T STOP PEDALLING!"

Suddenly, an image of hundreds of gnu, all desperately clambering over each other to get up a river bank and to safe ground, came in to my head. Women who may have hidden and sucked wheels all day started accelerating and making my efforts seem very pedestrian indeed.

I turned the last corner at 500m to go, and could see the finale playing out up the road. The race was over and some of Bronzini's team mates were raising their arms in victory. Dammit! I grovelled in with Guderzo and she congratulated me on a job well done.

By the time we'd crossed the finish line and rolled around to find Monia, the commentator announce that she had won in a photo finish, and that the team must be so happy, now that we had won her weight in rice.....

Yes that's right. Why pay prize money, when the local rice patroné could go through the moderately charming process of getting Monia and her Pinarello on some scales and handing over 36 x 2kg bags of riso.

As we drove the 4h home, we contemplated ways of bartering it at the local pasticcheria or even opening a stall at the fornightly market in Terranuova in exchange for something liquid.

A great celebration dinner was had mid journey at the ChefExpress Austostrade near the Bologna turnoff (diesel discount 2c/l if the family all has dinner), and the team were all very satisfied: Monia had been liberated from a string of 2nds and 3rds behind Bronzini; I had been liberated from domestique mediocrity and chasing cars in the convoy (being unanimously given best on ground), and the team had its first win of the season.